Stay Informed With HeatingSave | Page 12

Official figures this week reveal the number of households who are in ‘fuel poverty’ has more than doubled in the last five years because of soaring energy bills. A household is defined as being fuel poor if it has to spend 10 per cent or more of its income on paying to keep the home adequately warm. For many pensioners this is the largest bill they have to pay all year, so many are struggling to keep their homes warm. In 2003 the number of fuel poor households was two million, but it climbed to 4.5 million in 2008, according to the Department of Energy & Climate Change.

To support the construction industry, energy secretary Chris Huhne said that government policy will stop any ‘cowboy’ installers taking on jobs under the Green Deal, with registered tradespeople being given a quality mark to put customers’ minds at rest. The Energy Bill was introduced to Parliament last year and includes provision for a new Green Deal which the Government believes will revolutionise the energy efficiency of British properties.

British Gas has announced a 7% rise in gas and electricity bills this winter, the increase coming into effect on December 10. The company said this was the result of rising wholesale prices. The energy giant said prices for those on a typical dual-fuel deal would go up by £1.50 a week, but its 300,000 most vulnerable customers would initially not be charged more. The rise affects eight million customers, and British Gas is the second major UK energy supplier to hike prices for winter.

Utilities firm Npower has admitted it had not communicated well the changes it made to charges, and now 1.8m people are to receive an average refund of £35 in one of the biggest pay-outs of its kind. Npower says it will write to all those affected over the next two months, even if they are no longer customers.

A total of £2 billion a year could be saved by UK households if they make an effort to becoming energy efficient, the Energy Saving Trust has claimed. “Investing in energy efficient technologies like loft or cavity wall insulation is an invaluable way to ensure that we can add value to our home, keep bills down and unlike decor will never go out of fashion,” said Philip Sellwood, chief executive of the Energy Saving Trust (EST).

Oil prices are at their highest for 10 months, up at over $74 a barrel, as Europe, China and maybe the USA come out of recession and start using more energy. Demand for oil from China rose by 3.5% in July compared with July 2008 with similar increases in demand expected from the euro zone as their industrial output strengthens.

The Energy Savings Trust, is a Government backed non-profit organisation that provides free impartial advice tailored to the consumer. Their advice can help you save money and fight climate change by reducing carbon dioxide emissions from your home.

The volcanic ash cloud from Iceland has led to the grounding of 63,000 European flights over the past four days. The eruptions from Eyjafjallajokull has saved 1.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, more than the annual emissions of many developing countries.

Leading nations appear as if they are having second thoughts on tackling global warming a mere six months after the Copenhagen summit. The Australian government has had to delay the introduction of its carbon emissions-trading scheme. The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) was supposed to be the guiding force behind reducing Australian emissions by 5-25% within the next ten years. But Senate opposition has forced Kevin Rudd’s administration to back down.

Energy consumers face more pain as households on good deals with British Gas and npower face hugely higher bills – if only they had gone to HeatingSave earlier to cut them! Thousands of npower customers were moved off various Sign On Line deals to tariffs which could be 25 per cent higher.

British Gas has been criticised for announcing record profits just after it raised prices. The UK’s biggest gas supplier has just revealed a 24% increase in profits over the last few months. About eight million customers were hit with a price hike on December 10, raising the average dual fuel bill by £80.

HeatingSave’s intelligent heating controller is the answer to fuel bills going up. The price comparison site confused.com said that the smaller energy companies, because they do not benefit from the bigger economies of scale, tend to be the first to pass on reduced prices in a falling market, and of course are the first to raise them as wholesale prices go up.